Six vie for five seats in House District 2 race

Five Democrats and one Republican are seeking five seats in the District 2 House of Representatives race.

Democrat Roger Berube, 70, of Stackpole Road in Somersworth, is retired after 20 years in the Navy and employment at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Berube, a native of Somersworth, has a wife, Ellen, two daughters, one son and five grandchildren. He has served seven terms as a state representative and has also served on the Strafford County Regional Planning Commission, the Somersworth School Board, 20 years on the City Council, chaired the Finance Committee and served on the Planning Board. In the Legislature, Berube has served on the Energy Commission, Autism Commission, Criminal Justice Committee and the Canadian Trade Commission.

His work on the Canadian Trade Commission, he said, has shown him Canada is a valuable source of energy for New Hampshire and should be utilized, although he thinks New Hampshire should begin seriously looking into alternative sources of energy — especially renewable energy, which he said is "very important."

"These are the types of things that need to be done," he said of wood-burning plants and wind farms. "We need to look at all different types of energy."

While serving on the Criminal Justice Committee, he also helped make sex offender laws "more stringent," which he said was important to ensuring New Hampshire residents' safety.

He said he is also concerned about education and its funding and would focus on those issues next term if re-elected. However, one accomplishment for schools happened during his time on the Autism Commission when strides were made to provide necessary services in schools for students who need them. However, schools in general need greater funding, he said. "It's becoming so costly, it's unbelievable," he said

Democrat Mike Rollo, 34, of 2nd Street in Rollinsford, works as a textbook manager at the University of New Hampshire bookstore and will be attending graduate school at UNH in the fall for American studies.

Rollo, a native Rollinsford resident, is engaged and will be married next year. He has served five terms as a state representative and also serves as a library trustee for the Rollinsford Public Library. In the Legislature, Rollo served as chairman of the Committee on Legislative Administration, the Joint Legislative Historical Commission and the County Delegation. Some accomplishments Rollo said were important in the past sessions were joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, expanding the state's health care program for children, raising the minimum wage and helping small businesses access affordable health care through New Hampshire Health First.

If re-elected, Rollo said, "I would like to see the school funding issue come to some closure," adding he thinks retaining a Democratic majority will lead to those necessary changes.

"It was good that we looked at how we fund education in this state," he said. "Now we'll figure out how we're going to pay for it."

He also said he would like to see more work on promoting sustainability and energy conservation, which are big issues coming into the election year.

"Everyone is worried about how they're going to heat their homes this winter," he said. "I don't know a single person who isn't concerned about it."

Democrat Dale Sprague, 38, of Page Street in Somersworth, owns an excavation company called Dale R. Sprague Construction and works as a real estate broker. A native Somersworth resident, Sprague has served one term as a state representative and has served on the Public Works and Highways Committee, on which he worked with other members to solve issues with funding maintenance for state highways and bridges.

"There are highways and bridges in the state that really need work," he said. "We need to find ways to fund these infrastructure issues." Sprague mentioned the expansion of the Dover/Newington bridge on the Spaulding Turnpike as something he would like to see happen soon.

"My goal is to make sure that bridge is put up," he said, adding it's on schedule and the funds have been obtained but the continued traffic congestion on that route makes it a pressing project.

He said "it's important" for everyone on "this side of the state and the Spaulding Turnpike" that he is part of the Public Works and Highways Committee along with the other members who served together during the last term.

"It's very important with that committee that we keep a continuity of members," he said. "I hope everyone on that committee comes back."

Sprague pointed out that in the past 17 years, the Everett Turnpike, or the Central New Hampshire Turnpike, has received $349 million in capital improvements while the Spaulding Turnpike has received only $31 million.

"My question is why?" he said, adding his continued work as a District 2 representative would be to address these issues and find ways of funding some of the infrastructure problems.

Democrat Deanna Rollo, 58, of Heritage Drive in Rollinsford, is a retired employee of the NYNEX phone company. She has lived in Rollinsford for 21 years and has served two terms as state representative. She has one son, Michael, who is also running for state representative.

She served on the Committee on Children and Family Law, and Rollo said an accomplishment last session was expanding family health care coverage up to age 26 for children and changing laws to resolve some issues for foster children.

Rollo said she also was proud to report the progress in "finally" defining an adequate education and putting a cost to it.

"We're on our way to getting funds from the state," Rollo said, adding she would have liked to see more money come to cities and towns from the state.

She also pointed out the raising of the high school dropout age to 18 from 16 as an accomplishment, saying, "That's a big improvement. It gives young people an advantage because I think when they're 16 they just don't know what they really want."

Rollo said she hopes to return to the Committee on Children and Family Law but, if she serves again, would like to see help come to families struggling with affording home heating oil and property taxes.

"When we see a decline in property value causing elderly people to give up their homes, they're going to be selling for less than what their home is really worth," she said. "That's a huge problem."

Democrat Kenneth Ward, 46, of Washington Street in Rollinsford, is a full-time firefighter in Portsmouth and is restoring his historic home in his spare time. He received a bachelor's degree in German from the University of New Hampshire. He has lived in Rollinsford for 10 years and in New Hampshire all his life. This is the first time he is running for state representative but he also has served on the County Delegation.

Ward said he ran because he has been a Democratic activist for years and has concerns related to education and its funding, taxes and making sure the state takes care of its infrastructure and other issues.

"Our reliance on the property tax is very scary," he said, adding he "likes (Gov.) Lynch" but disagrees with his decision to not consider a broad-based tax. While? he thinks the Legislature has done a "really good job" at keeping the budget below the inflation rate, Ward said a broad-based tax may be something to consider, especially as he is concerned elderly residents will no longer be able to afford their property taxes.

He said he supports civil unions and job training and would like to see more attention paid to upkeep of the infrastructure of the state's highways and roads.

He also said defining adequate education "is a start" but the subject needs much more attention.

Republican Tim Logsdon, 32, of High Street in Somersworth, is a computer consultant at the University of New Hampshire. He has lived in Somersworth since 2002, when he moved to the state after serving active duty in the Army for six years. He is married with three children.

He has run twice before for state representative but wasn't elected. He served nearly one year on the Somersworth School Board and is trying to start a business selling and servicing recumbent, or reclining, bicycles. He has most recently been petitioning for a tax cap in the Hilltop City, an effort that springs from concerns about taxes being too high and spending too carefree.

"It's getting to a point where people won't be able to afford those taxes anymore," he said. "I think the focus should be not on how money is distributed but on how it's spent. We should limit spending on the state level to keep our taxes low enough to where we can actually afford to live here."

He also wants to see certain laws and statutes in the state simplified. On his website, http://defenderofliberty.blogspot.com, Logsdon lists many laws he would like to see changed or modified.

"I would like to try to find ways to make the state friendlier to cyclists," he said.

Logsdon has ridden his bicycle to work every day for two months and said he would also like to see railroad companies allow paths to be made alongside the tracks that could be used for cycling.

His motivation for running, he said, is to make a difference in politics. "I practice defensive politics," he said. "I see a tax on home schooling, constitutional rights and people in government trying to spend more and more of our money when we already can't afford what we have to pay. Because of that and tax increases, politics is the only way I can see that would help limit the amount of damage the government can do to families."

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